Haight: Tabitha’s Closet provides clothes, shoes for children

Every Tuesday during the school year, First Christian Church of Independence becomes a refuge of hope through Tabitha’s Closet, an outreach ministry providing shoes and clothing to children of “the working poor” in the Independence School District.

Now in its eighth year, the doors of the basement Closet are open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for families to obtain much-needed clothing for their children – those in school and those who aren’t – and for school officials to secure apparel for children who come to school not properly dressed.

Perhaps these kids need a new pair of shoes, or a warm coat. Maybe they need jeans that fit properly and aren’t full of rips and tears. And some may even need tennis shoes to participate in physical education, where wearing tennis shoes is a requirement.

Whatever their clothing needs, Tabitha’s Closet has them in all sizes, including all the new items – shoes, socks, underwear, hats and gloves. Also on the shelves are gently used pants, jeans, tops, sweaters,  hooded sweatshirts, winter coats and more.

“Our goal is to be able to help every child who is referred to us in such a way that the child is appropriately dressed and has new shoes,” says Norma Tibbetts, coordinator of Tabitha’s Closet, the ministry she helped start in 2002.
“Our hope,” she adds, “is that each child is able to go to school with a sense of pride in his or her appearance.”

As for those who use Tabitha’s Closet, “They are treated with the respect and support that they deserve,” she says, noting families must be referred by their family school liaison.

“If we can provide dignity and support, then we are doing what we were called to do.”

Little did the historic church at Pleasant and Kansas street know in 2002 that its Caring Community partnership with Procter Elementary School would eventually evolve into Tabitha’s Closet. Under this partnership, First Christian, which is observing its 175th anniversary, provides Procter with school supplies, tutoring and more.

While at the school some eight years ago, Norma was asked by Procter’s family school liaison if clothing items stacked high in her tiny, cramped office for Procter children could be stored at her church.

“So, we stored them for Procter the first year and they came and got supplies as they needed them,” she explains.

As church members began contributing clothing to Procter’s Closet, as it was called then, Procter families were invited to use it. In 2003, the Closet was expanded to include all Independence elementary schools.

However, more expansion was on the horizon. In 2004, middle and high schools were added, as were the five Kansas City schools in western Independence that were annexed into the Independence district in 2008.

With the community battling economic woes, the need for Tabitha’s closet is greater today than ever before. With 50 children receiving clothing from the closet in the 2003-04 school year, the number of recipients swelled to 1,015 in 2009-10, including 320 families  from 29 schools.

So far this school year, more than 550 children from 31 schools have received 400 pairs of new shoes, 2,250 pairs of jeans, 3,250 tops and 300 winter coats. And there are six more months of school remaining.

As Procter’s Closet continued to grow in use, it quickly outgrew its space in a second-floor room in the educational building.

“At that time, the closet was just a hodgepodge of tables and shelves,” Norma says, before it was moved downstairs three years ago into much larger quarters  and renamed Tabitha’s Closet at the suggestion of the pastor, the Rev. Amy Lignitz Harken.

Tabitha is mentioned in the writings of the Apostle Paul in Acts 9:36: “Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.”

If nothing more, Tabitha’s Closet has raised an awareness of people and their needs, Norma believes.

“Last year there were over 700 homeless children in Independence,” she says, explaining that when people hear that figure, they find it hard to believe that any child could be homeless here. “They understand the need of clothing for some children, but they have no idea of the scope of it.

“When you start something like (Tabitha’s Closet) and start seeing the need in the community, then it goes from ‘We see the need of clothing. What else can we do?’ And it really becomes an awareness of the needs of the community.”

Operating Tabitha’s Closet is a costly but rewarding ministry.

“Last year (the church) spent about $9,000 on the Closet. This year we will spend more,” she says, purchasing new socks, shoes, underwear and gloves. “And then we have to supplement our used clothing at area thrift shops because we don’t get enough (clothing) in.

“As the community need continues to grow and this ministry expands, the amount of funds needed to maintain Tabitha’s Closet increases,” she says, noting some outside assistance has surfaced with such area organizations as Sam’s Club, Independence and Sugar Creek Optimist Clubs, Independence Young Matrons and Kohl’s A-Team supporting the Closet with monetary donations and volunteer workers.

After a recent occurrence, Norma believes Tabitha’s Closet is a “God-thing,”  As she was replying to an out-of-town e-mail asking why she was so involved with the Closet, she replied it was a “good thing,” not realizing she had misspelled “good” and had written “God.”

The recipient of the e-mail replied: “Now I know why you do it.”

“It really is a God-thing,” she says, recalling God recently met the needs of Tabitha’s Closet when it ran out of socks and other items on the second day the shop was open in August, as well as money to purchase more inventory.

Norma remembers going home that afternoon wondering how she could get her hands on enough money to restock the empty shelves.

She didn’t have to wonder long. In the mail the next day was a $1,000 check from a church member earmarked for Tabitha’s Closet.

“It really is a God-thing. And it does mean a lot to me,” she says.

As for the future of Tabitha’s Closet, Norma believes it will probably outgrow First Christian and move to larger quarters someday.

“I guess the thought is always that at some point down the road, we could find a building uptown to do (Tabitha’s Closet) in, adding, it could be more of a community involvement with other churches.”

Norma says there are also several different churches that have  helped moneywise, because the Closet has become something the church doesn’t have the finances to fund.

Pray for this outreach ministry and for the people it serves, Norma asks.

For more information about Tabitha’s Closet, call her at 816-607-1271 or e-mail  her at: tabithascloset@fccindepmo.org.